I'll be Strong
by Chaotic Blades
Summary: Atticus is gone and the search for him discontinued. What is wrong with everyone? Why am I the only one still trying to find him? My brother... Atticus.... -Oneshot


Let me explain. This was written to explain why Alexis is apparently a first year, despite canon proof that she's a second year (such as already knowing her way around the school.) My idea is that when Atticus disappeared, a series of events caused her to miss so much school she had to stay back. Well, this is just my idea, so don't take it too much to heart. I hope whoever reads this, enjoys it!

Don't own GX, if I did this plothole would've been explained on its own.

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"Since there have been no signs of Atticus Rhodes, I'm afraid we'll just have to give up the search," came Chancellor Sheppard's muffled voice through the door to his office. Crouching down outside was an Obelisk student with mussed-up dirty-blonde hair. Her eyes narrowed grimly.

"Such a shame. Mr. Rhodes was one of our best students, and an Obelisk Blue! This is indeed a tragic loss for the school," said Doctor Crowler. The girl outside could imagine his face twisting in disappointment at losing one of his _precious_ students.

"What I don't understand is why all these students keep going missing…. It can't be a coincidence that it always happens in that dorm. Well, no more! From now on it's forbidden to go there and anyone caught trespassing will be expelled!" Sheppard decided.

"I'll go announce it to the students right away." The girl had no time to hide before the door slid open.

"What are _you_ doing here?!" Crowler demanded in shock.

"Who is it?" Fear was clear on Sheppard's face. He didn't want the wrong ears to hear this information.

"Why it's Miss Alexis Rhodes, sir! Well, aren't you going to answer the question, my dear?" asked Crowler. Alexis bit her lip and stayed silent.

"It's going to be alright, Alexis. Don't worry, we're doing the best we can. It's not long before your brother is-" Sheppard was cut off from his attempt to cheer her up when she glared viciously at him.

"Liar," she accused.

"What did you say?! This is your Chancellor you're speaking to! Show some respect!" snapped Crowler, grabbing her shoulders. Alexis squirmed out of his grip and dashed out of the room. The two men were silent for a moment before Crowler remarked, "You know, I think she heard too much."

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Alexis stared blankly at her room wall. _Atticus… what happened to you…?_ Her mouth felt dry as she listened to the tick of a clock. One second… another second… a third…. Any second now she expected her brother to come charging through the door with some hare-brained excuse for his absence. One second… another second…. Still no one. It was so hard to believe he was gone. He had always been there- teaching her how to duel, teasing her, cheering her on at the entrance exams. And now… gone? How? Why? What was up with that dorm?

_Tick._ A second gone by.

_Slam._ The door burst open so hard it hit the wall.

"Atticus!" she cried happily, standing up and turning around quickly- only to see two Obelisk girls she recognized from the dorm standing there.

"Sorry, but we're not your brother," said the rusty-haired one.

"We came here to give you a message from Miss Fontaine," the ravenette continued, "She says you should take the day off." Alexis looked away, muttering a thank-you. "Is… something wrong?" She ignored the question and started spreading her deck out on the floor.

"Mindy, of course something's wrong!" the girl's friend scolded under her breath, "She lost her brother just a week ago. Why would she be okay?"

"Well yeah but…," the one called Mindy trailed off. Her voice grew louder, this time meant to be heard by Alexis. "Hey, I know what will cheer you up! How about we go to the beach? It's a great day to get a tan! The three of us can ditch class and-"

"No thanks," Alexis said curtly.

"Huh?" asked the red-head.

"I… need to be alone right now," Alexis explained with a slight choke to her voice. The two exchanged worried glances and decided it would be for the best.

"Okay, but if you need us, just call, okay?" The red haired girl left her PDA number on her desk and then left with her friend. Alexis stared after them long after they'd been gone.

_They don't understand… no one does. If no one else will do it, I'll have to. I'll find my brother!_

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"Alexis, what's wrong?" asked Zane as once again she missed a homework assignment, "I know you miss Atticus, I do too, but your grades are falling. Do you really think he'd want you to be this way?"

"It doesn't matter, right? Everyone's given up the search. They've given up on him! My brother is 'dead'," she muttered back bitterly.

"You haven't. And neither have I. I've seen you sneaking out, Alexis. And I can guess where you've been going to."

She bit her lip. For the past two weeks she had snuck out every night to look for clues in the Forbidden Dorm. Nothing was there though. Nothing except old memories to further trouble her haunted mind.

"Alexis-"

"Miss Rhodes!" called the teacher. Who was he again? Oh, who cares anyway? It's just another teacher. "-tired of your recent lack of attention-" He was cut off when she stood up, turned around, and walked out of class.

As soon as she got outside the academic building, she broke into a sprint. Racing across grass, then through leaves and branches, she made her way clumsily towards the dorm. _Atticus… Atticus…,_ she chanted in her head. More and more memories filled her mind, until they started to overflow into her eyes, then fall to the ground. _Atticus! _

Upon reaching her destination she jumped the fence without second thought and charged in. Furniture was upturned, rugs were thrown out of the way, planks boarding up doors were ripped off at the expense of her nails. But still nothing. No clues. No Atticus. Not even a trace of another human's presence having ever been there. A growl tore through her throat, gradually turning into a sob. She collapsed to her knees and cried.

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"Alexis!"

"Hey, Alexis!"

She recognized those voices. From where though? She seemed to recall one of them offering support… who were these girls anyway? Couldn't they see she wanted to be left alone?

"Alexis, we've been worried about you!" the black haired one exclaimed. Mindy, was it?

"Yeah!" agreed her friend, "You haven't been to class in a long time and you're never around the dorm! Where have you been?" Why were these two talking to her? She didn't know them. They obviously didn't know her. Was it too much to ask for just a little peace?

"Alexis? C'mon girl, speak to me!" It was decided; Mindy was the annoying one. _Probably can't see beyond the rim of her mirror,_ she thought nastily.

"Alexis, you have to let us help you! I know you're upset about your brother, but you need to stay strong!" What did RedHead think she was talking about? _I am being strong… I'm the only one being strong! Everyone else just gave up before they even started! Did any of the search parties even try? I bet they didn't. They don't care if one of the students goes missing, so long as they get their paycheck!_

"Don't worry, Lex! We'll help you make it through!" Mindy declared, "I know, we should have a girls night out! Or a sleepover with three gallons of ice cream, on us!" Excitement turned to confusion as they watched her turn to leave.

"Where are you going? Alexis, wait!" cried RedHead.

"Stop acting like my friends," she snarled as she stalked away. She made sure to meet their eyes with her angry stare. Predictably, they couldn't hold their end of the gaze.

Once again she spent the night in a bed of dust in the Abandoned Dorm.

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Once again she coughed violently. It had been getting worse the past few days. Now it was all she could do to remain upright when she went into a fit. She had been getting mild fevers on and off and no matter what she just had a general feeling of wanting to go crawl into a hole and die. A particularly harsh cough sent her tumbling forward, into the waiting arms of… someone? Who? Why was someone bothering her again? She just wanted to be alone!

"Alexis, you're not taking care of your health. Wherever Atticus is, he's got to be worried about what you're doing to your body!" Oh, so it was Zane. _Figures_._ Of course he'd be the one to walk in on one of my fits._ Her coughing died down and soon she was able to support herself again.

"I'm taking you to the nurse."

Her head snapped forward. "What…?"

"I'm taking you to the nurse," Zane repeated, "You're sick. You've been pushing yourself too hard. You should relax. I know you haven't been getting any sleep." He frowned at the large bags under her eyes. Then his own traveled downwards and widened in shock. Alexis has been at a healthy weight before the incident with Atticus but now she was like a twig. Her cheeks had started to sink in and her skin had a sickly yellowish tinge.

"No…. No," she said a second time, as if it would change his mind, "I'm fine, I don't need any help, or anyone! I just need Atticus!" She trembled a bit, though whether it was out of exhaustion or something else neither knew.

"You're not thinking clearly. Trust me, if you could see yourself-"

"Shut up!" she screeched in a manner very much unlike herself, "I'm tired of all you people messing with my life! Just leave me alone!"

"I'm worried about you! The teachers are worried! These two girls named Jasmine and Mindy keep asking me every day if I've seen you, if you're okay! If we leave you alone any longer, you'll completely destroy your health!" he yelled back. He tried to grab her arm but she snatched it away.

"I'm not the one destroying my health, you are! I'm sick of all of you! You all think you're right, I'm wrong, and that we should give up on Atticus!" With that she dashed back off through the woods. _Atticus… Atticus… I'll never abandon you, even if they all do… we'll always be together… always! Always!_

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She groaned and shook her head groggily. For some reason her throat felt numb. Her body was warm- _Must be another fever,_ she thought- and it felt like she had a ton of bricks in her chest, weighing her down onto the bed. Bed… why was the thought confusing? She opened her eyes to the clean, white walls of the infirmary. Little more than a whimper of surprise could make it out of her throat.

"Alexis!" three voices chorused. She managed to shift her head to look the other way and saw Zane, Mindy, and RedHead. _Zane called her Jasmine, right?_

"We were so worried! Miss Fontaine went crazy, by the time Zane found you, you were collapsed on the ground and I thought you'd died at first and you've gotten so thin and-" Thankfully Jasmine cut off her friend's babbling.

"You're lucky Zane followed you! You developed a really bad case of mono! You should've told us you weren't up to taking care of yourself!" scolded Jasmine. (1)

"I'm sure she plans to from now on," noted Zane, "And you should probably know that you missed way too many days to be able to move on to your second year. You have to repeat freshman year."

"Yeah, but don't worry!" Mindy chimed in, "We'll be right there repeating it with you! After all, we are friends now, right?"

It didn't even take a word from her unresponsive throat to convey her feelings on the matter.

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(1) Mono- short for **infectious mononucleosis, **aka the kissing disease. There's tons of ways to get it, but the way Alexis got it was by not getting sleep, overworking herself, and not eating properly. Symptoms she showed included sore throat, fever, fatigue, weight loss, throat inflammation, and a general feeling of unwellness.


End file.
